Peoria man given 6 1/2-year sentence

A Peoria man told a judge Friday that he was ready to turn away from his life of repeated drug use and theft.

"I'm finally taking responsibilities for my actions," Dylan Phillips, 21, said at his sentencing hearing on a theft charge. "When I was in (jail), my house got burglarized. ... I was so mad. That kind of put it in perspective for me."

A Peoria man told a judge Friday that he was ready to turn away from his life of repeated drug use and theft.

"I'm finally taking responsibilities for my actions," Dylan Phillips, 21, said at his sentencing hearing on a theft charge. "When I was in (jail), my house got burglarized. ... I was so mad. That kind of put it in perspective for me."

Phillips was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to the felony charge.

He was accused of stealing from a barn in the latest of a series of thefts. At the time of the Feb. 16 incident, he was on probation in two counties for similar offenses.

Phillips said in court that his behavior was fueled by an addiction to drugs, and he proclaimed his intention to receive drug treatment and education services during incarceration.

Judge Kevin Lyons cited that while Phillips, who hung his head as Lyons read from a letter written by his mother, admitted to multiple burglaries in the area, he had never entered a home to commit the offenses.

"You're in a fight with yourself, I can tell," Lyons said. "I hope that you get better and not bitter, and that you've bottomed out a little bit."

A co-defendant in the case, Destiny Linnertz, avoided jail time because of a clean conviction record.

Phillips faced up to nine years in prison. He will receive credit for time served and be eligible for day-for-day "good time" credit.

Laura Nightengale can be reached at 686-3181 or lnightengale@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauranight.